Prison Island is just off the coast of Stone Town and it’s a quick 40 minute boat trip from the old town’s waterfront. 

It’s fringed with a lovely white sand beach and a small coral reef, making it ideal for a spot of snorkelling and sunbathing. You can hire masks and fins once you’ve landed. The island, also known as Changuu, was first used by Arab slave merchants to detain unruly slaves, before the British built what was intended as a prison for Stone Town in 1890. The building was never used as a prison, though later it did become a quarantine station for Zanzibar, Kenya, Uganda and what was then Tanganyika.

Today Prison Island is known for its excellent views of Stone Town and for its giant tortoises imported from Aldabra in the Seychelles in the late 19th century. They stand up to a rather staggeringly one metre high, could feasibly be hundreds of years old, and are frequently seen copulating! 

From Stone Town, Prison Island is an excellent half day trip. Ogle the sexually-charged tortoises, swim and snorkel,